While the owners train their staff in the brand new space, Juice Crafters is hosting a soft opening from 9am – 4pm each day. The entire menu is 50% off for as long as the soft opening lasts, which the owners say is usually one to two weeks.

“Juice Crafters is a family business,” explains owner Carol Goldwasser, part-owner of the Coronado store. “My cousins started up in LA, and they have 10 locations there. My husband and I opened in San Diego about a year ago.” Carol and her husband Jonathan currently have stores in La Jolla, Hillcrest, and Little Italy, and Coronado is their fourth San Diego store.

“Our intention is to create a revolution in which people can get close to healthy food, and they can feel like healthy food can be very tasty,” says Carol. “We want to make everyone aware that you can be healthy and enjoy what you eat, and your body will benefit from making smart choices.”

Juice Crafters opened this past Wednesday in Coronado.

To do that, Juice Crafters offers a large and varied menu including juices (made-to-order and cold-pressed), wellness shots, tropical smoothies, meal replacement smoothies, and four types of açaí bowls. You can add a superfood scoop to your smoothie; create your own smoothie with their local, organic produce; or even do a juice cleanse with their juices. Their cold-pressed juices are raw, local, kosher, non GMO, vegan, and never pasteurized, and they offer juice options for three-, five-, and eight-day cleanses.

“All our greens are certified organic, everything is fresh, we don’t have anything pre-made, frozen, or artificial,” explains Carol. “Our restaurant is basically an open kitchen, so you can watch our employee take a few pieces of pineapple, some strawberries, and almonds and walnuts and whatever goes in it, and they blend it and make an amazing tasting drink for you. There is nothing you wouldn’t recognize, and everything is 100% fresh and natural. That reflects in the taste.”

Juice Crafters staff make smoothies in the open kitchen behind the counter.

Indeed, Juice Crafters did meet these expectations when my family and I had lunch there on Thursday. My kids went crazy for the açaí bowl, which was chock full of fresh banana, coconut, strawberries, and granola. The smoothies — one tropical berry, one meal replacement green smoothie — were totally fresh with no artificial flavors. “Neither one of these is sweet,” my husband commented, which we also realized is unusual — and a relief — in the world of store-bought smoothies.

We did notice that the prices reflect the quality and quantity of ingredients that go into each item. One of our smoothies cost almost $11, and the açaí bowl was $9.99. Of course, for the soft opening these items were all 50% off, making them a great deal. And since most of us can’t recreate these items with this quality of ingredients at home very easily, the price is probably worth it for such a whole, fresh product.

Carol and Jonathan are thrilled to offer such healthy options to Coronado. “I’m very excited to be in Coronado because I feel that people there are very health-driven. Every time I’m in Coronado I see people on their bikes or running, and I don’t see a lot of healthy options around.”

The Coronado lunchtime crowd at Juice Crafters on Wednesday was eclectic — women in Chacos, men in Navy uniform, groups of high school girls, curious local families — and everyone appeared intrigued or even relieved by the diverse and healthy menu. Office workers left with large orders in paper bags that they had called in ahead of time, and many wandered in to peruse the menu and ended up staying to order a meal.

Cold-pressed juices available for sale.

“We want everyone to come in and enjoy some drinks, to know what Juice Crafters is all about,” says Carol. For now they are open from 9am-4pm each day, but, she says, “Eventually we’ll be open from 7am-7pm every day of the year. We never close. We know our customers, and people go to the gym and run pretty early in the morning. People want to be able to grab something quick besides a coffee.”

An organic, fresh, and ready-to-go option is here, Coronado. Check out Juice Crafters every day this week at 943 Orange Avenue.

Becca is a Coronado local, military spouse, mother of three, and an ICU nurse on hiatus. In Coronado, you will find her at the playground with her kids, jogging to the beach, or searching the Coronado library for another good read.Have news to share? Send tips, story ideas or letters to the editor to: manager@coronadotimes.com.